Posted on 08/27/2007 1:12:58 PM PDT by NYer
Denver, Aug 27, 2007 / 10:38 am (CNA).- Members of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X complied with directives from the Archdiocese of Denver on Saturday, banning them from praying in two Denver churches.
Since 1999, members of St. Isidore the Farmer Church in Watkins, Colorado have embarked on a 50-mile walking pilgrimage to Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, Colorado to thank God for the completion of their church.
In the past, the pilgrims stopped along the route to pray and rest in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or Holy Ghost Church, both in downtown Denver.
However, the last several years, parishioners from the two churches complained that the pilgrims were leaving behind Pius X literature and trying to recruit members, communications director Jeanette DeMelo told Rocky Mountain News.
In 2002, Archbishop Charles Chaput put an end to these pilgrims celebrating their Mass at the Cabrini shrine because of the group has split from the Roman Catholic Church. Since then, the pilgrims have celebrated their Mass at the highway turnout below the shrine.
The Vatican has determined that the Society of St. Pius X is schismatic based on its adherence to a 16th-century version of the Latin Mass, its rejection of the Second Vatican Council, and in some cases, their rejection of the authority of the Pope.
What say you ping.
It’s taken them since 1999 to walk 50 miles?
I say let them be consistent. If the SSPX are banned from there, then only Catholics should pray in their churches. No Protestants. No Jews. No Muslims. No Hindus. No Buddhists. Et al.
But perhaps they were warned already.
There was an SSPXer who would harass Massgoers at St. Agnes in Manhattan every Sunday and strew bizarre mimeographed flyers across the pews.
If you read the article, Archbishop Chaput is not banning anyone from praying at the churches. He is forbidding the schismatic group from holding organized services at the churches, and only because of their anti-Catholic behavior.
In the past, the pilgrims stopped along the route to pray and rest in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or Holy Ghost Church, both in downtown Denver.
However, the last several years, parishioners from the two churches complained that the pilgrims were leaving behind Pius X literature and trying to recruit members, communications director Jeanette DeMelo told Rocky Mountain News.
Chaput banned them from saying Mass there in 2002. That's not news. What's news is the recent directive that they're not even allowed in the churches. Period.
i don’t think any non memebers who aren’t pondering converting should be praying in churches which contradict their faith-denomination.
If this has been going on for a couple of years, I can't believe nothing was said, no warning given before. And just how many years would you tolerate someone trying to recruit you in your church?
As I understand it, from the comments on Fr. Z's blog, they're not banned as individuals, but as an organized group.
Very interesting!
Good point. Could you imagine the controvesry if he did ban a Jewish group?
So you think they’d welcome me to make a return visit if I dropped off some excerpts from the Westminster Confession, perhaps from Chapter 25 or 29.
It is a different matter, this was a group publicly associated with the SSPX. Publicly seperated from the Catholic Church. I would say that those parishes offered them hospitality and they abused it.
I wonder why they wanted to pray at those churches anyway because they don't believe that the NO Mass is valid and therefore Jesus wouldn't be present in the tabernacle by their reasoning.
But Protestants, atheists, etc., can.
Our parish had some pretty nasty encounters with the SSPX crowd here. Nasty, evil accusations against our very orthodox priest were thrown about. They would stand on the sidewalk and distibute letters containing all sorts of vile accusations. And then they would show up whenever there was a Trid mass (which we have on special occasions)and act like nothing was wrong. It didn’t seem to bother them that these priests they were smearing were the same ones offering the Mass.
Anyway, I have a feeling that there is a lot more going on here but that the Archbishop is trying to take the high road.
...or No pro abortion governors like Bill Ritter having an inauguration mass...
Try reading the story again.
This is true. We get yahoos, not just the SSPX crowd, leaving all kinds of schismatic material in the Cathedral. I’ve even found Jack Chick comics left there.
I wondered that, myself. Some here have said they wouldn't attend a Mass held in a church that also holds Novus Ordo Masses, because of some fear of corruption.
United Methodist Churches are extremely hospitable; perhaps they'd welcome the SSPX to stop in, rest, use the facilities, etc.
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